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Conservative-Libertarian Party
History The Conservative-Libertarian Party was founded in 2843 by Margaret Wright and is a direct descendant of the Right is Right Party which was prevalent in Hutori centuries before. It was founded out of the National Conservative Club, which was an underground fringe organisation opposed to the one-party state formed by the Lusks. The Conservative-Libertarian Party was founded in June 2843, and was born out of the old traditions of the ancient Right is Right Party, which once dominated the political scene in Hutori. The leader of the CLP, Margaret Wright, a direct descendant and namesake of one of Hutori's most revered leaders, took the decision to revive the ancient party out of despair at the state of her country: "Not only has this government sold us out, changed our name, and damaged this nation almost beyond repair, but there has been no party of vitality to oppose them for years. Once before, the Right is Right Party rescued Hutori from one-party rule. Now the Conservative-Libertarian Party will pick up that mantle and rescue this country." Only a year later, in October 2844, the CLP was elected, forming a majority in Parliament, and was able to form a Government with Mrs Wright as the leader. Straight away, with the support of the 'God's and the King's Fighters', the CLP restored the old Hutorian monarchy, putting King John III on the throne, and restoring the old name of Hutori. Industry was privatised, deregulation swept the land, and civil liberties were restored. In November 2846, two close allies of Mrs Wright resigned from the government over the Mayoralty Act, which provided for elected mayors, showing the first signs of a possible ideological division in the Party. Mrs Wright invited two members of the GKF to enter her government. Having shortened the parliamentary term, in April 2850, Mrs Wright and the CLP were again elected as the majority party, gaining one seat and becoming the majority party in all regions except from Adelia. The CLP completed their privatisation of education as well as most other areas, and introduced the Humane Military Act, bringing some sense of morality into the armed forces. The CLP also negotiated the Titles and Honours Act, although this would not be passed into law until after the election. After much negative speculation, in April 2854, the CLP were elected for a surprise third term, gaining 8 seats from the Northern Lights Party, and almost 60% of the vote. Almost immediately after this victory, Margaret Wright had to endure a Vote of No Confidence introduced by one of her own former Cabinet colleagues. Needless to say, she survived. In her third term, Mrs Wright disestablished the state religion and abolished the regional police forces, both measures partly brought about due to continuing Lusk influence and domination in local matters. The CLP also widened the nationality remit, allowing immigrants to apply for nationality after ten years of residence and the passing of two tests. The death penalty was abolished. Margaret Wright retired from the office of Prime Minister on the CLP's 14th anniversary in June 2857 at the age of 76. She said: "I leave behind me a legacy that has seen democracy returned to Hutori, civil liberties returned to Hutori, universal suffrage returned to Hutori, rights of nationality returned to Hutori, the monarchy returned to Hutori, capitalism returned to Hutori, and the very name Hutori returned to Hutori. This is a record that anybody could be proud of, and indeed I am." She was succeeded by her key ally Norman Thompson, who immediately formed a new Cabinet to fight the next General Election. In the 2858 Election, the CLP lost 19 seats, becoming two short of an overall majority. This was partly believed to be the result of a long-term government, and also because of the near-completedness of the CLP reforms, leading to a lack of visibility amongst voters. On 11 November 2860, Duchess Wright died, leaving the CLP in mourning, without their founder. Norman Thompson's greatest act in that parliamentary term was to have a city named in the Duchess' honour, Wrightstown. After a coalition government with the GKF, in the 2862 election, the CLP lost a further 7 seats after a quiet term in parliament. The whole of the Party Leadership Committee resigned, leaving the party in the hands of a new generation. William Havers became Prime Minister, with his major political move being to propose nuclear disarmament, which was rejected by Parliament. In the 2866 election, the CLP lost 72 seats, and lost its position as the largest party in Parliament, being three seats less than the NSP. This ended a five-year term as the largest party in Parliament. William Havers resigned immediately, being replaced by Tom Major, widely seen as Duchess Wright's protege. It was believed that he would put the party back on a traditional route, after Duke Havers' flirtation with the more libertarian traditions, and arguably Duke Thompson's with the conservative side. The CLP spent most of its time opposing bills that the new coalition government were introducing, effectively repealing CLP measures. Most particularly, the restriction on citizenship was opposed by the CLP, with many foreign-born citizens fleeing the country. Also, the government changed the name of Parliament to the House of Lords, and Prime Minister to Lord Protector, prompting the CLP to oppose what they saw as a return to feudalism. In April 2870, the CLP lost a further 13 seats, but became once again the party with the largest number of seats. Hutorian politics was largely effected by the arrival of the Ultranationalists, a fascist party committed to racial purity. Tom Major pulled together a coalition government, comprising of the GKF, the NSP, and the CEP. Although all parties differed remarkably, Major's commitment was to democracy and encouraged the other parties to pull together to ensure the nationalists could not touch power. After creating the government, Major's first act was to make a statement encouraging immigrant citizens to return to Hutori, and confirmed that they would be able to retain their citizenship despite the change in the law on nationality rules. At the 2873 CLP Summer Conference, members of the Revolutionary Ultranationalist Guards launced a terrorist attack, injuring the Prime Minister, and killing the Justice Secretary Francis Percival. He was murdered due to his long-standing commitment to gay and minority rights, and laws to back them up. The period marked the beginning of a return to violence to the streets of Hutori, disrupting any achievements that a government could be made. However, Tom Major was able to keep the government together and refused to bow down to terrorists. He refused to infringe on civil liberties as a response to terrorism, affirming his commitment to liberty. He also worked hard with the Telamonese government to ensure that their country was not damaged by terrorism. The people rewarded him by giving the party its first seat gain in 20 years in the 2874 election, giving the party 163 seats altogether, a gain of 60 seats. During this parliamentary term, Major's first acts were to abolish the death penalty and ID Cards. Tom Major again formed a democratic coalition, excluding the Ultranationalists. Not long after the election, the nationalists disbanded, meaning that the CLP became a majority party once again. Mr Major introduced various items of legislation to reform nationality and infrastructure, taking advantage of his majority. He took the decision to retire in August 2876 after 10 years as leader of the CLP, and was replaced by a relatively unknown backbencher, Melanie Thompson, the great-niece of Duke Thompson. At the age of 23, she was one of the youngest party leaders in Hutori's history. After criticism of Mr Major's decision to introduce legislation in an unrepresentative chamber, Miss Thompson called early elections in November 2876, publicly criticising Major's stance. In the December 2876 election, the CLP lost 21 seats, but remained the largest party. Melanie Thompson created a coalition government with the CEP, based on progressive morality and permissive civil rights. Not too long after securing election victory, the Prime Minister took part in a photo shoot for popular lad's magazine, "Pose", which saw her with very little clothing, creating a great deal of controversy. However, she went on to achieve great things. She introduced far-reaching reforms in health and education, re-creating a strong private sector in both, whilst retaining the public sector, the first time the CLP had voted for public sector provision. Miss Thompson also succeeded in re-introducing elected mayors for local areas, allowing immigrants to apply for nationality, and allowing refugees to seek refuge in Hutori. Her personal sponsorship of a great many popular bills have led some to argue that she is the most successful and powerful CLP leader since Duchess Wright. In the 2880 election, although losing 42 seats, the CLP retained their position as the largest party. In this relatively quiet parliamentary term, the CLP deregulated alcohol, introduced free distribution of condoms and abolished the rights of local governments to set curfews. At the 2884 election, the CLP lost a further 29 seats, losing their position as majority party for only the second time in their history. Melanie Thompson graciously stood down as Prime Minister, allowing the United Front for Change to take that position. She proposed a Cabinet comprising the UFC, the CLP and the CEP, based again on civil liberties. She decided to carry on as party leader, but took the decision not to serve in Cabinet, so as to be able to focus on party and parliamentary politics, outside of a coalition. During this parliament, the CLP proposed many reforms which did not pass. However, reforms to the postal service and to areas of civil liberties were popular and passed parliament. In the 2888 election, the CLP lost a further 16 seats, becoming only the third largest party. The election saw the return of the Ultranationalists, who became the largest party. However, the fall of the UFC led to a further election in February 2889, of which the CLP were the chief beneficiaries, gaining 18 seats. With the return of the nationalists spreading fear throughout Hutori, Duchess Thompson proposed a democratic coalition, which would involve all of the democratic parties but, rather than being under her leadership, was under the premiership of Duke Major, who had recently returned to politics, forseeing the influence that the nationalists would have. The term was marked by a renewed fight against the nationalists, although violence was contained during this time. The nationalists proposed a vote of no confidence in Duke Major, although this failed to attract any support. During this parliament, state power grew further than it had for some time, with government intervening in more areas than ever. The CLP remained opposed to such reforms. It was during this term that the CLP proposed the Local Revenue Act, giving local governments complete control over local budgeting, with no money being provided from central government. The passing of this Act also led to some acceptance of federalism by the CLP. The 2891 election, brought about due to the collapse of the GKF, saw the CLP gain 10 seats and become the largest party once again. Duchess Thompson returned as Prime Minister, yet, in 2892 the NWP also collapsed and the CLP returned to their position as third largest party. Duchess Thompson was challenged for the leadership by the radical libertarian, Douglas Carter who argued that, under Duchess Thompson, the party had gone away from its true roots. Just over a year later, after inability to form a new coalition, the CEP also collapsed and so another election was held in July 2893. Although the CLP gained 30 seats and became the second largest party, they lost their majority hold in Kenai for the very first time, meaning for the first time in their history, the CLP did not have a majority in any of the constituencies. During this Parliament, the CLP successfully deregulated adoption and established aid for those countries suffering from disasters. The leadership election was held in 2894, with Douglas Carter, Duchess Thompson and Bernard Weatherton all standing. Duchess Thompson won. After a further bad election in 2897, Duchess Thompson resigned as party leader after 21 years. David Craddock took over as leader. Much of this Parliament was dominated by the Hutori National Party and the nationalists, who greatly infringed on civil liberties. In 2900, Duchess Thompson was arrested after protesting against civil liberty infringements and so David Craddock founded the Campaign for Civil Liberties. At the 2901 election, with the arrival of two new parties, the CLP lost a further 11 seats, but became the second largest party after the remarkable reduction in size of the Hutori National Party. The CLP also regained majorities in Falristan and Kenai. This was widely seen as both a vote of confidence in David Craddock and voter reaction against the politics of fear. After the election, the CLP, the URR and the NSP founded the United Movement, a cross-party organisation committed to a Hutori free of division and hatred and a union against the politics of fascism. Following the collapse of the Popular Alliance, a further election was held in 2902, which saw the CLP gain 5 seats and become the largest party once again, the first time since the brief term in 2891. The first official United Movement Cabinet was formed. After the collapse of the FFF, the 2904 election saw the party gain two seats, but lose their position as largest party. In 2908, the CLP gained 9 seats, making David Craddock the first leader to gain seats in three successive elections since Duchess Wright. Another election shortly followed due to the collapse of the PDP. This saw the CLP gain 22 seats, making it the greatest increase in seats since the 2876 election, the greatest number of overall seats since 2874 and the first time that the CLP had ever gained seats in four subsequent elections. Despite being by far the largest party, the CLP failed to form a majority coalition, and for the first time since the Restoration, a fascist party led government in the form of the HNP. David Craddock resigned immediately and was replaced by the radical libertarian Douglas Carter who immediately started reforming the party, changing its colour from blue to orange, the name to the "Classical Liberal Party" and amended its first cornerstone from "Constitutional conservatism" to "Democratic Progress". His first act was to reform the party's stance to the monarchy, agreeing to and proposing a system that would have the monarchy share the position of Head of State with a "National Council" comprising also of the Speaker of the House of Parliament and an elected "First Tribune". This proposal was passed by Parliament. After internal Cabinet difficulties, the People's Progressive Forum left, becoming "Hutori's Labourists - Working Party". Douglas Carter was thus able to form a Cabinet but, after the collapse of the HNP at the beginning of 2910, the CLP suffered a defeat at the early election, losing 40 seats and becoming only the third biggest party behind the CEP and the NSP. In the First Tribune election, Duchess Thompson was the Party's candidate, and she came second to the CEP's Michael Laskaris. Unexpectedly, Douglas Carter remained Prime Minister throughout the term after both the CEP and NSP failed to form governments. In the 2914 election, with the collapse of the CEP and Popular Alliance, the CLP benefited only to the tune of 7 seats, and their overall share of seats fell, leading many to argue that Douglas Carter's reforms were not liked by the public. After 8 more months of negotiations, in November, Douglas Carter resigned as party leader although remaining as Prime Minister until a new coalition could be formed. Countess Moore, the former Finance Secretary, was elected. In May 2916 Douglas Carter resigned as Prime Minister, and Countess Moore succeeded to that position. As leader she ended up proposing far more radical proposals than Douglas Carter ever did, although very few of them passed due to the absence of the NAP. In the March 2918 election, the CLP gained 2 seats and, after the collapse of the URR, they gained a further 8 seats in July. However, they ended up being the smallest party. Countess Moore agreed a coalition deal with the NSP which saw just the two parties in government. Countess Moore thus became the first CLP leader to serve in Cabinet in a position other than Prime Minister. She successfully proposed a budget that saw taxation and spending cut, saving the Hutorian people millions. In the 2922 election, the CLP suffered their worst ever election, losing 62 seats and having only 29 members elected to the House of Parliament, the fewest in the party's history. Duchess Moore resigned as party leader opening the way for a new start. Duke Craddock was elected First Tribune, although he was unopposed. The Party elected one of its new intake of MPs to the leadership, the famous actor, Baroness (Bernadette) Peters. She led the Party through the 2926 election, gaining the party 43 more seats, although still the party with the lowest number of seats. Despite the return of the HNP, the CLP made big gains in Adelia. She successfully passed the Cultural Rejuvenation Act, which abolished national control over museums and libraries, and devolved the funding of them to local governments. She later said that this was one of the proudest moments in her life. In the 2929 election, following the collapse of the NAP, the CLP gained 59 seats, giving them the largest number of seats since the 2876 election, under the leadership of Duchess Thompson. Onida Chukulate, the former Speaker, was elected to the position of First Tribune, becoming the first CLP member to be elected when opposed. Her election was widely seen as an indictment of the HNP's term as First Tribune. After the NSP left Hutori in 2932, the CLP became the largest party. However, the arrival of the Civic Democrats allowed the HNP and the Democrats to form a coalition, ejecting the CLP from power. Baroness Peters stayed on as leader, though announcing her intention to stand down shortly. Following a couple of years of sustained infringement of liberties and free market economics, the HNP called an election to take advantage of the arrival of the Labour Party, a probable source of support for the fascists. Although losing 21 seats, the CLP under Peters' leadership, remained the largest in Parliament. Peters decided to remain as leader for the foreseeable future, despite her age. After a party's collapse, an election was held in 2936 in which the CLP gained 19 seats, making Baroness Peters one of the Party's most successful leaders. Four months following the election, Baroness Peters suffered a major stroke and died a few days later. Daniel Harper served as interim leader and at the beginning of September, Alan Hastings, a backbench MP, was elected CLP leader. He successfully finalised negotiations started by Baroness Peters to form a coalition with the Labour Party. Alan Hastings duly became Prime Minister. The CLP-led government set about rolling back the laws introduced by the HNP that limited civil liberties. No sucess was made on privatisation however. Following the collapse of a minor party, a general election was held and although the CLP lost 27 seats, they remained the largest party. Pauel de Wit also became the First Tribune, placing him in the National Council alongside his long-time CLP foe, Eric Powell, who served as Speaker. In the coalition negotiations following the election, the Hutori Bloc decided to go into government with the HNP, meaning that the CLP were once again in opposition. However, following the collapse of the HNP, a further general election was held. The CLP won 51 seats, giving them 168 altogether, the highest number of seats since 2862, when they had 188 altogether, ironically forcing the resignation of the leader, due to it being perceived a low amount! It was also the first time that the CLP won 4 out of 5 regions since the 2850 election. In November 2940, a further election was held as Duke Hastings had successfully negotiated bringing back the monarchy in full, and getting rid of the First Tribune. It was put to referendum through endorsing an empty candidate, which comfortably won. Although the CLP lost 33 seats, the coalition retained a majority, and the CLP governed alongside the Labour Party once again. Duke Carter took the decision to resign out of protest at the abolition of the system that he had initiated. In 2943 the CLP celebrated their centenary with a massive party in Bekenial Park. All of the famous dignitaries were there as well as all the past leaders. The highlight of the event was a video message from Duchess Wright, recorded shortly before her death. In his address, Duke Hastings said: "We are still fighting to ensure that democracy and liberty can prevail in Hutori. There will always be forces that seek to end both of those ideals, and so the CLP will always be relevant, always be needed, and always be welcomed by Hutorians. I am sure that we will always have many setbacks in the future and that regressive forces will occasionally impose their will. But the Hutorian people have a natural inclination towards progress whilst respecting their traditions. We know that they will always see us as the party that will give them that." Shortly after the centenary celebrations, Duke Hastings took the decision to resign to allow a new generation to take over. Keith Jacobs, the Health Secretary became leader and therefore Prime Minister, promising to carry on the coalition with the Labour Party. On 15 March 2944, nine high-profile members of the CLP were abducted and held to ransom. All CLP members of the Cabinet, apart from Emily Bridges, were among them. Prime Minister Keith Jacobs, Foreign Secretary Viscount Macintosh, T&I Secretary Marquess Hammond, Education Secretary Michael Gordon, Health Secretary Daniel Harper, Duke Craddock, Duchess Moore, Marquess de Wit and Speaker Powell were all taken from their hotel rooms at the CLP's Spring Conference. The nation and the Party were thrown into crisis, and the King requested 91-year-old Duchess Thompson to form a Cabinet. She summoned Dukes Carter and Hastings and Marchioness Chukulate to serve alongside her and Miss Bridges, the sole Cabinet minister left behind. Over the course of three months, all of the captives were murdered, causing shock throughout the nation. Following their deaths, secret services continued to look for the murderers believing that they may have been abroad. Emily Bridges was elected leader after the Party believed that she had shown great courage and support to the Prime Minister during those months. Although the election outcome was delayed due to many members casting their vote for Duchess Thompson, who was not on the ballot paper, Emily Bridges was elected and immediately declared that the party was in crisis and faced a bleak future. Party Leaders 1. Margaret Wright (2843-2857) (PM 2844-2857) 2. Norman Thompson (2857-2862) (PM 2857-2862) 3. William Havers (2862-2866) (PM 2862-2866) 4. Tom Major (2866-2876) (PM 2870-2876, 2889-2891) 5. Melanie Thompson (2876-2897) (PM 2876-2885, 2891-2897, 2944) 6. David Craddock (2897-2909) (PM 2897-2909) 7. Douglas Carter (2909-2914) (PM 2909-2916) 8. CountessMargaret Moore (2914-2922) (PM 2916-2919) 9. Baroness Bernadette Peters (2922-2936) (PM 2929-2932) 10. Alan Hastings (2936-2943) (PM 2936-2938, 2940-2943) 11. Keith Jacobs (2943-2944) (PM 2943-2944) 12. Emily Bridges (2944-) Other Notable Figures Quintin Harrison Kenneth Clarkson Nigel Letterman Keith Johnson Michael Heslop Francis Percival Edward Hammond Margaret Moore Bernard Weatherton Cecil Pinkney Onida Chukulate Daniel Harper Michael Gordon Pauel de Wit Eric Powell Structure The Party is headed by the Party leader who is supported by the Party Leadership Committee. The PLC is made up of all former Party leaders and other notable party members, usually decided by the PLC themselves. The exact role of the PLC within the Party is shrouded in mystery. Election of Party Leader Electing the Party leader is a complicated process in the CLP, and the whole process is rarely completed, as candidates drop out due to obvious support for one individual. Voting on Legislation The way in which the Party will vote on legislation is usually the decision of the Party leader, although on occasions where there is great indecision, the Party will vote outside of Parliament on how they should vote, and then come together to vote the same way as dictated by the majority. Category:Political parties in Hutori Category:Hutori